by Tina Leonard
She knew exactly what it felt like to grow up under less-than-optimal circumstances. Judy had given her a fighting chance. Was it wrong to want to give the same to this team?
“Here’s your drink.” She handed it to Michael, who sat happily between Ava and Cameron, soaking up the attention.
A knock sounded at the door, surprising all of them.
“Late for visitors, isn’t it?” Cameron asked.
“Apparently training schedules don’t count.” Harper went to the door, surprised to find Declan on the other side. “Declan! What are you doing here?”
“Saw the ladies’ truck outside. Wondered if a man and his dog might be welcome.”
His grin was infectious, the puppy in his arms adorable. Harper felt her heart jump at the sight of them, the big-shouldered man dressed in jeans and a cowboy hat covering his dark hair, his eyes appealing her for entrance.
“How can I resist such a sexy combo?” she asked. “Come on in and join us.”
“Toad!” Michael hopped off the sofa, came running to take his puppy from Declan. Toad wildly licked his boy’s face, making Michael giggle with delight.
“How’s it going, ladies?” Declan made himself right at home on the sofa across from Cameron and Ava.
“We’re just chatting,” Cameron said with a sidelong look at Harper.
She scoffed. “Don’t try to protect him. I’m more than certain he’s had his two cents in this late-night intervention.” Still, she went to get him a beer, coming back from the kitchen with a glass of wine for herself. It looked like the party was just getting started, so she might as well relax. While part of her wasn’t thrilled that her team had been the topic of town conversation, she had to admit that the fact that they cared enough to come to her about their concerns was touching. “Haven’t you had your full two cents in this meeting tonight, Declan?”
He grinned. “I may have even gotten a quarter’s worth.”
She looked around at her friends. “It’s not going to do any good. I’m sticking to my plan. That’s what plans are for, sticking to them.”
“Harper,” Declan said, turning serious, “we know how much you want this team to succeed. The fact is, you gave them a chance. Your team simply doesn’t respect you. Or Hell, for that matter, and what we’re trying to do with them.”
She pointed at her friends. “Every last one of you have let Judy get to you with her nonsense. She’s been unhappy ever since I took over the team, and in true Judy style, she’s determined to get it back. But my team is going places we never went under Judy. I promise you that.”
Cameron and Ava looked at her, their expressions worried. Michael was too busy petting Toad to notice the tension in the room.
“Harper,” Declan said, his voice soft and compelling, “your team isn’t even here right now.”
She looked at him. “What are you talking about? Of course they’re here. They’re in bed, observing curfew, as we agreed. They may be lying back there texting or chatting, but they’re in their rooms.”
“That’s our cue.” Cameron got up. “Michael, darling, how would you and Toad like to come stay tonight with Auntie Cameron and Uncle Saint? I’ve got free time tomorrow, and I’ve got a couple of horses that need a little boy to work them out.”
Michael’s gaze shot to his mother at this unexpected invitation. Harper’s heart sank a little as she realized that Cameron was trying to get her son away for the night—because Harper was about to get news she didn’t want. Be faced with a reality she didn’t want to face.
Her team wasn’t ever going to respect her rules. They simply didn’t respect anyone or anything.
“Sure,” she said slowly, “let me get you some things packed.”
“I’ll do it,” Ava said quickly, rising. “It’ll give me some practice for when Wyatt’s older. Come on, Michael and Toad, let’s find your stuff.”
“I’m so sorry, Harper,” Cameron said.
Harper’s gaze went to her team’s bedroom doors. “You’re absolutely sure they’re not here?” she asked. It seemed unbelievable, impossible. She got up, knocked softly on their doors, her heart sinking further when no one answered. She was so angry she was shaking: at her team, and at herself.
If anybody knew what young ladies were capable of, it was her. She knew exactly what she’d done, both before she’d come to Hell and after.
The strangest sense of déjà vu settled over her, as she realized her role of rule breaker had been passed to a new generation. Her friends were right: her team wasn’t interested in Hell.
“The funny thing is,” she said softly, as Declan came to stand beside her, “when we came to Hell, we wanted so badly to please everybody here. We wanted to help Hell win. Wanted to live Judy’s vision.” She shook her head sadly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have taken her team. Everything’s been wrong since then.”
“I don’t know that I necessarily agree,” Cameron said, picking up Toad. “But we’ll do that post mortem later.” She hugged Harper goodbye. “You’re the bravest of us, Harper. You tried to do a damn good thing.” When she broke away, she looked at Declan. “Take good care of my sister. She needs it.”
Michael came over for a kiss goodbye. Harper clung to him for a second longer than usual, relinquishing him to her friends. “Text me everything you do. I’m so nosey,” she told Cameron.
Cameron laughed. “I’ll text photos. In return for the joy of stealing your son for the night, it’s the least I can do. Come on, Michael. Let’s go make Uncle Saint’s whole weekend. He’s been needing a little man around the house.”
Her friends departed, and Harper instantly missed her son. Drawing a shaky breath, she looked at Declan.
“So where are they?”
“Informant is not my role.”
“But you know.”
“I have a good idea.”
“And they’re safe?”
“Safe is relative in Hell, isn’t it?” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be with the company they keep, but that’s a personal thing. Past history and all that.”
“The Horsemen?” Harper asked, gazing at him, desperately wanting to know the answer.
“I’ve said all I’m going to say. Being a snitch isn’t my role. Letting you know that you’ve got a big problem wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to do, either. However, there are folks here who have your back, want to see you succeed. Maybe not at this, maybe at something else of your choosing. But they definitely don’t want to see you get hurt.” He stared down at her. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Thanks for being the bearer of bad news.” She was hurt, more than she wanted to admit at the moment, but that was probably pride talking. “How did they get past me?” she asked aloud, not expecting an answer as she tried the doors again. Both were locked.
“Same way they get past everybody. They find a way.”
She was so angry with them. Yet it wasn’t anything she and Cameron and Ava hadn’t done. Still, she’d believed them when they’d promised to stick to the rules and the training. “They’re so different from the team we had.”
“You three were much more willing. And that’s the problem. You three needed this gig. They don’t necessarily need it as much, I think.” He followed her as she went outside, went around to look at their bedroom windows.
“Believe it or not, I never considered this escape hatch.” Harper slid a window up, and it moved easily without even a squeak. Trace kept the small bungalow in great condition.
“I suspect they consider all escape hatches. It’s what they do.”
She glanced at him, his dark features barely visible in the moonlight.
“What else do you want to tell me? Because I can hear you holding back.”
He took her hand. “Let’s go inside. You should get some sleep. I’ll head out, and we’ll talk more tomorrow. Or whenever you want.”
She let him lead her across the grass, back to the front door, but then stopped before they went inside. “I’ll ne
ver sleep tonight. I need to find them.”
“Don’t, Harper. It won’t do any good.”
She supposed that was true. “I’m responsible for those girls. I signed a contract so their parents would know they’d be in safe circumstances.”
“Which they forged their parents’ signature to, knowing very well it didn’t matter a single damn. They were of age. Regardless of who took them on, they were going to do whatever they wanted to do.”
She drew a deep breath. “I know you’re right, but it’s hard.”
He touched her cheek. “Get some sleep.”
There was no possible way. It just wasn’t going to happen. “I let them guilt me into agreeing not to spend time with you. That this was going to be a professional outfit, with all our focus on training and getting ready to show, maybe even compete.”
“Well, that was a mistake, beautiful. You never want to willingly give up the handsome prince.”
“I don’t remember that being a fairy tale rule.”
“It’s my rule,” he said, drawing her to him. He put his lips to hers, barely against her mouth, letting her make the decision.
She moved back. “You’re right. It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have let them manipulate me. By now, I should be the last person anyone can manipulate, thanks to Judy’s training.”
He laughed. “We’ve all learned from Judy.”
“Take me to them.”
“Not going to happen.” He leaned his head down, stole a fast kiss. “Goodnight, beautiful.”
He didn’t understand. She wasn’t going to sleep, didn’t want to be alone, without Michael. Worrying about the team. “Take me for a drive, Declan.”
“How will that help?”
“I might relax and decide to stay at your place.” She raised her chin. “Or I might get out of you what you know about my team that I don’t.”
He gave her a long, steady look, his gaze simmering under his hat. “You don’t want to get into my truck, Harper.”
“Don’t I?”
“If you do, only one of those things is going to happen.”
She caught a ragged breath in spite of herself. “I see.”
“Be sure you do. If you come with me, I’ll take you for a drive. But then I’m going to take you to my house and make love to you, the way I’ve wanted to for months. I’ve been patient, knowing your team had to come first. But that’s not what they want.” He stroked her cheek. “Make up your mind, beautiful. I’m going now.”
He turned and walked toward his truck. Harper watched him go, torn.
She should stay here and wait for her team to return, read them the riot act. Let them see that she was entirely committed to nothing but them, and their training.
He started his truck.
Declan was right: Winter, Cassidy, and Micaela didn’t want “the team” to come first. They had their own goals, which had nothing to do with Hell.
Yet, Declan wanted to be with her.
And she wanted to be in his arms.
It was probably a mistake—but at least it was a mistake she’d make by her own choosing.
She ran inside the house, grabbed her keys and purse and a change of clothes, and locked the door behind her.
Declan had pulled his truck practically up to the door, and was holding the passenger door open.
She walked to him, met his gaze. “This is probably not the best idea we’ve ever had.”
He gently stroked her cheek, the way he had earlier, sending those same sexy tingles through her. “I’m full of bad ideas. It’s a family trait. But I promise you won’t be sorry.”
So far no promise she’d had made to her by anybody had remained unbroken. She was getting a thick skin for promises.
Harper jumped in Declan’s truck.
Chapter Eleven
Declan hadn’t been sure how Harper would deal with the fact that her team was willfully acting in contrast to her rules. There was only so much shattering of her dream that he wanted to do; on the other hand, Harper deserved to know the truth. And for her team’s safety, changes had to be made.
He wasn’t certain what changes Harper would elect to make. Maybe it was selfish, but he was worried. She might decide to pack up, head off. He reminded himself that this was only her third year in Hell; her roots weren’t yet set in the hard clay soil of their town. Harper’s team was a big part of her remaining here. Before, he’d worried that Michael’s father might show up, claim his son and the mother of his child. Declan knew he would have done just that—if Harper and Michael were his. He couldn’t imagine a man who didn’t want this woman and her heart-tugging son.
But the ex had never shown up, and Declan had begun to relax a little—until it was obvious the team wasn’t gelling the way it needed to. As a SEAL, he knew something about the way teams needed to operate for survival, and the reality was, Harper’s team was out for themselves, the unholy triumvirate they’d been before they’d ever crossed the boundary line into Hell.
So far, she was handling their desertion well—except for the fact that she was in his truck. Declan knew better than to be taken in by this sign of surrender. Harper hadn’t yet convinced herself that he and she were a good idea together. There were walls up, plenty of them. She didn’t entirely trust her emotions where he was concerned, probably where any man was concerned.
“Take me to the creek,” Harper said, breaking the silence in the truck as Declan drove toward his ranch.
“Why?” he asked, knowing full well why.
“They’ve either gone to Ivy’s or to the creek. They’ll automatically expect me to check Ivy’s first, because they were there the last time I chased them down.”
“Maybe this time we don’t chase them down,” he suggested, his tone mild. Going for don’t-rock-the-boat.
“I’d like to at least know who they’re with. Do you know?”
Here it came. And he was, once again, not going to come out looking like a hero. “Yeah.”
“And?”
He glanced at her briefly. Her expression in the dark, lit only by the light from the instrument panel and passing streetlights, was pensive and worried.
“They’re with Dark Demon, Jake the Snake, and Rebel Wright.”
“You know all this how?”
“I might have been doing a little recon,” he admitted.
“You weren’t planning to tell me, were you?”
He winced. “Not unless asked.”
She let out a gentle sigh. “I don’t blame you. It’s not your place to get involved. But they’re my team! I promised their parents I’d keep them safe.”
“Yeah, well, their parents knew too well that their daughters hadn’t darkened their doors in years, and weren’t planning to.”
He felt her gaze on him. “How do you know all this? Who did I send those letters to saying I’d look after them as if they were my own?”
He shrugged. “Fake P.O. box or addresses or whatever. The girls don’t involve their parents in their decisions. Haven’t in a long time. Did they all have P.O. box addresses on their paperwork?”
She drew in a breath. “Yes. It’s not uncommon for people to have those. I have one in Hawk.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. Harper studied him for a minute, the silence growing in the truck. Finally, she looked out the window, and he saw her hand go up to her face. Wipe something away.
Shit. She was crying. Or at least she’d teared up. He felt momentary guilt, pushed it away. She had to know the truth, and besides which, she’d asked him. He wasn’t going to sugarcoat it. Harper wasn’t the kind of woman who’d appreciate a candy coating on her truth, and if she found out later that he’d softened the blow, she’d be really pissed with him. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “Still want to try the creek?”
“Yeah.” She gave the tiniest of sniffles, reached in her backpack for a tissue. “Stay in recon mode, if you don’t mind.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He agreed that was the best approa
ch. Harper could satisfy her mind that the team was safe—as safe as they could be with the Horsemen. They were just young girls having the ride of their life, disrespecting every rule anyone tried to apply to them.
He pulled down the road to the creek, turned the truck headlights off. “Last chance to back out.”
“You just keep driving, or I’ll walk on ahead.” Her tone was determined.
“Actually, that’s an excellent idea.” He parked the truck behind a stand of thick live oaks. “Let’s make an approach on foot.”
They got out of the truck, closed the doors silently. “I hear laughter,” Harper said.
“They’re probably skinny-dipping.” He caught her hand. “Are you sure you want to see this?”
“Now that you mention skinny-dipping, no.” Harper halted in her tracks. “I never considered naked bodies.”
He pulled her to him. “You’re so innocent.”
“I’m not innocent. I just never wanted to skinny-dip with Jake the Snake and Rebel Wright. Certainly not someone who calls himself Dark Demon.” She shivered. “Here’s hoping the girls are fully dressed, and that’s just the sound of happy laughter over campfire tales.”
He was surprised she was allowing him to hold her against his chest. In fact, it seemed like she snuggled a little closer to him, for comfort, likely. “Maybe.” Unlikely. Sounds of splashing carried to him, but he was used to listening for every tiny sound. He longed to kiss Harper, comfort her—but that would be crossing the line right now.
“I would have thought my team would have said those guys were old.”
“Rebel and Jake and Demon aren’t that much older, but they are that much wilder, and I’m guessing that’s what attracts your team.”
“Cameron, Ava, and I were so naive we couldn’t help being attracted to you Outlaws.”
Declan perked up. “I never noticed you being attracted to me.”
She leaned against his chest, right over his suddenly racing heart. “You’re a dumbass.”